Greeley Grays memories

Sitting in a room surrounded with large, grainy, black and white photographs of baseball players in 1950s and ’60s uniforms, the memories of Greeley Grays baseball are as fresh as the promise of a new season for Bennie Garcia.

“What the Greeley Grays did was really prepare a lot of people,” Garcia said. “From us, they went on and excelled.”

The 76-year-old Greeley resident was part of a group of former Grays, Weld County baseball coaches and University of Northern Colorado and Greeley officials who gathered Wednesday at UNC’s University Center to discuss the revival of the Grays franchise.

The Greeley Grays will be reborn this summer as a Mountain Collegiate Baseball League team. The league will allow college baseball players a chance to play after their college seasons have ended. The league — like the Cape Cod Collegiate League — also gives Major League scouts a chance to watch some of the country’s top baseball athletes play against each another while using wood bats.

“We are totally honored that Greeley and the Grays have lent their name to us,” Grays President Ray Klesh said.

Klesh said the new team has a lot to live up to.

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“I can personally guarantee you they will never embarrass the tradition of the Greeley Grays,” he said.

Klesh said he plans to hold a press conference early next year to officially announce the formation of the team, which will start its season in June.

Garcia, who has been called “Butter” since he was about 8 years old, played for the Grays in 1946. It was a semipro baseball team then. He managed the club from 1960-69. The team played its last game in 1969.

He said the friends he made from his involvement with the team stayed with him his entire life.

“We kept in very close touch, all the guys that played together,” he said.

Garcia said his favorite thing about managing the team was watching it grow.

“The thing is how we improved as we went along,” he said. “We started using signals and things like that.”

Fort Collins resident Kurt Colicchio, who founded the league and is the president of the Fort Collins Foxes, said the Mountain Collegiate Baseball League is the culmination of more than a decade of effort to bring baseball to northern Colorado. He said after giving up on bringing a minor league team to the region, he read about collegiate baseball on the Internet and decided he could make that work.

“You can turn a profit while being involved with the greatest game in the world,” he said.

He said the quality of play will be about AA level because the teams will be composed of college all-stars.

Klesh, whose ownership company paid a $27,500 franchise fee to join the league, said the team will give scouts a chance to see players perform in Colorado’s thin air.

“Especially the Rockies, they want to see guys using wood bats in a high altitude environment,” he said.

The Rocky Mountain Collegiate League will begin play in 2005 with four teams — the Greeley Grays, the Fort Collins Foxes, a Cheyenne team and a Laramie, Wyo, ballclub. Former Colorado Rockies pitcher Mark Knudson is the league’s commissioner. League officials plan to expand to eight teams with possible franchise locations in Boulder, Golden, Pueblo, Grand Junction and Scottsbluff, Neb. The league will use NCAA rules and college and high school umpires. For information, visit mcbl.net

THE SCHEDULE

The teams will play a 48-game regular season in June, July and August. The top two teams will play a three-game series to determine a league champion. Season tickets will cost $89; single-game tickets will cost $5. Children ages 6-14 will cost $2; 6-and-under will get in free.

June 7 Fort Collins

June 8 Fort Collins

June 9 at Fort Collins

June 10 at Fort Collins

June 11 at Fort Collins

June 14 Cheyenne

June 15 Cheyenne

June 16 Laramie

June 17 Laramie

June 18 Laramie

June 21 at Laramie

June 22 at Laramie

June 23 Cheyenne

June 24 at Cheyenne

June 25 at Cheyenne

June 28 at Cheyenne

June 29 at Cheyenne

June 30 at Laramie

July 1 at Laramie

July 2 at Laramie

July 4 Fort Collins

July 5 Laramie

July 6 Laramie

July 7 Fort Collins

July 8 Fort Collins

July 9 Fort Collins

July 12 Fort Collins

July 13 Fort Collins

July 14 Cheyenne

July 15 Cheyenne

July 16 Cheyenne

July 19 at Cheyenne

July 20 at Cheyenne

July 21 at Fort Collins

July 22 at Fort Collins

July 23 at Fort Collins

July 26 at Cheyenne

July 27 at Cheyenne

July 28 Laramie

July 29 Laramie

July 30 Laramie

Aug. 2 at Laramie

Aug. 3 at Laraimie

Aug. 4 at Laramie

Aug. 5 Cheyenne

Aug. 6 Cheyenne

Aug. 9 Fort Collins

Aug. 10 Fort Collins

Times are to be determined

THE PLAYERS

Players for collegiate leagues must have NCAA eligibility. They will stay with host families in the city of the team in which they play and the teams are allowed to find jobs for them to work. In collegiate leagues about seven players on each 25-man roster take jobs after playing, league founder Kurt Colicchio said. The players are not paid by the teams. Players will travel by van or bus to their away games.

THE FIELD

The Greeley Grays have signed a one-year lease with the University of Northern Colorado for the use of Jackson Field. The team has agreed to make $25,000 worth of capital improvements to the stadium. UNC Vice President for University Advancement Ken McConnellogue said those improvements could include improved parking, restrooms or a concession stand. It hasn’t been decided exactly what role the Grays will play in the improvements or when they will take place, he said.

“We’re excited about the possibility of partnering with the Greeley Grays,” he said. “We think it’s a good fit.”

Because it is a state entity, the university will not enter into contracts for longer than one year, but McConnellogue said options exist to renew the contract for future years.